In Yanzhou City, where the fiefdom of King Lu of the Ming Dynasty was located, in the palace of General Jingguo, Zhu Yipai, the favorite nephew of the current King of Lu, Zhu Shouhong, was hosting a banquet with his wife Guo to honor Zheng Haizhu.
This royal couple had a friendship with Zheng Haizhu when they first met and experienced dangers together.
In the past three years, the labor force from Liaodong that was imported into Yanzhou Coal Mine came from Zhang Luo, Kong Youde, who was brokered by Zheng Haizhu. This time Zheng Haizhu also brought an expert who was said to be able to solve the problem of pumping water in the coal mine.
They have similar minds and intertwined interests.
In addition, now that Zheng Haizhu also has an imperial order and is a woman, Zhu Yipai and Guo have treated her like an old friend in the inner house, rather than an ordinary guest. The family banquet by the lotus pond in the backyard was just like Zhang Dai's father Zhang Yaofang. It is also impossible to "enjoy" the history of the governor.
After having two drinks, Zheng Haizhu looked at the headdress of Guo, the concubine of Zhu Yipai.
The heart-shaped bun is the most common bun style worn by Ming Dynasty women. It is flat and round with a pointed top, like a triangular heart shape.
This kind of refreshing and neat updo with more beaded flowers is more popular among royal ladies. Even the daughter of a warrior, Guo, is just like the all-powerful female general Qin Liangyu. In terms of love for beauty, she and Yingying Yanyan There is no difference between the Jiao'es.
When Ms. Guo saw Zheng Haizhu staring at her sexy bun, she did not hesitate, took off a bun and handed it to her.
"If you like it, I'll give it to you. Your hair is too plain, and you're not a girl in a nunnery."
Zheng Haizhu took the gold-embedded temple veil and took a closer look.
The pure gold base is made into continuous clouds, and above the clouds is Maniba, inlaid with three plain rubies the size of wolfberries.
Below the clouds, filigree gold thread craftsmanship is used, like a fishing net, to firmly fix the three plain sapphires.
Zheng Haizhu raised his eyes again and looked at the big hairpin in the middle of Guo's bun. It was inlaid with red and blue gems into a lotus seat, holding up a nine-ox golden car. The Buddha on the car had three sides and eight arms, and a crown on his head. There is also the Great Sun Tathagata. The two highest raised golden arms hold two red and sapphires the size of dates. The red color represents the sun and the blue color represents the moon.
Zheng Haizhu returned the temple hairpin to the Guo family and said with a smile: "It's such a majestic treasure. The temple hairpin and the hairpin are a complete set of hairpins. How can they be separated? Such a bright red and blue treasure comes from outside Yunnan." From the Burmese secretariat as tribute?"
Mrs. Guo exclaimed: "Don't think you don't like to dress up on weekdays, you have really good eyesight."
Zhu Yipai was not surprised.
In the south of the country, including the newly opened Songjiang, there are now three large customs ports. There are also many treasures entering Nanyang Xifan. This woman has a trading company at home and knows the secret gems of Burma. What's so strange about it.
As if reading his mind, Zheng Haizhu said to Zhu Yipai: "Your Highness, no matter how high-quality the Qionghua jewelry from Nanyang is, if it is to be used as a beautiful sentence, it requires the skillful hands of my Ming craftsmen. For example, it is like a secret gem." For rubies, ordinary people can only wear them wrapped in soft tin, but Ming craftsmen can inlay them with gold and silver."
Zhu Yipai listened well to his ears, even though he had never been as advocating extravagance as other members of the clan. At this moment, he was quite proud and said: "Our Dianbao Office in Lu Mansion is full of masters. There are two ancestors who are head craftsmen. During the Hongwu period, he was transferred from Yingtian Mansion to King Lu's fiefdom."
Zheng Haizhu felt more confident.
She said goodbye to Mu Zaohua and Xu San, and after entering Yanzhou City, she first visited Zhang Dai's father, Zhang Yaofang, as usual, and asked Zhang Yaofang about the situation of the palace's treasure house.
It is her usual style to do preliminary research before talking to big shots.
So she didn't show off, and confessed that she had persuaded the Gu family to go to the Champa station to try a specialized jewelry import business. When she came to Yanzhou, she wanted to invite two craftsmen from the Dianbao Institute to Songjiang to bring a group of people who knew how to use gold and silver.
The apprentice of filigree craftsmanship inlaying precious stones appears.
"Of course, Your Highness, Madam, I also understand that the Dianbao Institute is an internal workshop of the Lu Mansion. Some craftsmanship is not allowed to be passed on to outsiders, and some shapes are not allowed to be overstepped by our private companies, so ordinary craftsmen who draw and filigree can do it. For example
With permission, every time our trading company returns, we will select the best rubies, sapphires and diamonds and send them to Lu Mansion."
Zhu Yipai, an ancient man, naturally did not realize that Zheng Haizhu's plan was a bit like technology investment.
He just thought about it and felt that there was nothing unacceptable.
Miss Zheng understands etiquette, speaks respectfully and humbly, and is not allowed to spread anything to outsiders or overstep her bounds. In fact, let alone Beijing, Nanjing and the fiefdoms of various vassals, it is the larger state capitals in Huguang and Jiangnan, used by high-ranking officials and wealthy gentry.
The stuff is even more luxurious than the Zhu family's, and there are a lot of people there.
Just lend it to a few craftsmen. It won't be in vain. It was clearly stated that they would donate jewels as a token of gratitude.
Nowadays, there are many clans in various places, and the treasures and rewards allocated from the Forbidden City have long since stopped. Miss Zheng’s gift of genuine and good things is much better than those relatives in Yibin of the Lu family who use some broken stones to defraud the Lu family of money.
Zhu Yipai then made a preliminary decision at the dinner table, and Guo also took the initiative to offer advice, saying that when he went into the palace to pay his respects to Princess Meng of Lu, he found a reason to bring up the matter.
Two days later, Song Yingxing arrived in Yanzhou by boat.
This scientist, who, like Xu Guangqi, would have his own name on the surface of the moon hundreds of years later, has already shown his workaholic temperament after taking to Chongming Island like a fish in water.
Zheng Haizhu then unceremoniously treated him as a mule, treated him to a big sesame seed cake and spicy soup at the dock, and then dragged him to Chai Tan Mountain.
Now, this is the Yanzhou coal mine that King Zhu Shouhong of Lu gave to Zhu Yipai to take charge of.
"Mr. Song, you have to build something big like a hydraulic hammer machine. However, the ones on Chongming Island are for borrowing water. What we need here is drainage."
At the side of the mine tunnel, Zheng Haizhu pointed to the potholes all over the mountain and said to Song Yingxing.
Song Yingxing looked at several mine pits with underground water leaking out.
The shallow ones can still be pumped up through bamboo tubes, but the deep ones cannot be done manually. There are several deep pits that can only be abandoned.
No matter how great a scientist is, it is impossible for him to have a sudden flash of inspiration in the face of any difficulty.
Seeing Song Yingxing's frown, Zheng Haizhu inspired him and said, "Mr. Song, those who are stronger than humans are not only cows, horses, and mules, but also water."
Song Yingxing pursed her lips: "Then Madam, Chongming's water hammer relies on water."
Zheng Haizhu said: "What I am thinking of is boiling water. We have seen women cooking in the stove a lot. The boiling soup can lift the lid of an inch-thick willow pot."
Song Yingxing's eyes moved slightly: "Madam, what you mean is the power of water vapor?"
"My random thoughts made my husband laugh."
"Well," Song Yingxing looked thoughtful, "If the pot is big enough, the power of the water vapor will be greater...but how to make the power go back and forth?"
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Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, that's all I can remember, and after all, you are a scientist who is better than Watt. The light of the Chinese people, as long as I give you a direction, you will be able to build a steam engine for pumping water.
As one of my men, you should contribute your best to the Yanzhou Coal Mine, the money tree of the Lu government. I will pick up the wool of their jewelry craftsmen, and I will be able to pick it up even more.